The two biggest theatre chains in Canada, Famous Players and Cineplex Galaxy, are merging. I know, you're asking, "What happened to Cineplex Odeon?" Well, it was blended a couple of years ago with Galaxy Entertainment.
So, now there is only one major theatre chain left in this country. The need for independent theatres has never been more pressing. These organizations do exist (they usually market themselves as "film clubs", and require a small membership fee), but they're essentially the only way anyone in this country is going to be able to see anything other than the major Hollywood dreck.
Case and point: I live in a small town, and we have one theatre with five cinemas. At the moment, there are essentially no films there worth seeing (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith excepted, of course), nor are there likely to be. They systematically avoid playing any movies for "grown-ups" and instead play whatever garbage the marketing machine forces down the pipeline. It was three months before they finally consented to showing "Farenheit 9/11" last year, and there were many other good films (with built-in politically/artistically-minded adult audiences) that they pass on.
I fear this kind of thing will happen more and more often, so get out there and start your own film clubs before it's too late. One last reasont to fear corporate control over film: when's the last time you saw a Canadian movie in a Canadian cinema?
I rest my case.
So, now there is only one major theatre chain left in this country. The need for independent theatres has never been more pressing. These organizations do exist (they usually market themselves as "film clubs", and require a small membership fee), but they're essentially the only way anyone in this country is going to be able to see anything other than the major Hollywood dreck.
Case and point: I live in a small town, and we have one theatre with five cinemas. At the moment, there are essentially no films there worth seeing (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith excepted, of course), nor are there likely to be. They systematically avoid playing any movies for "grown-ups" and instead play whatever garbage the marketing machine forces down the pipeline. It was three months before they finally consented to showing "Farenheit 9/11" last year, and there were many other good films (with built-in politically/artistically-minded adult audiences) that they pass on.
I fear this kind of thing will happen more and more often, so get out there and start your own film clubs before it's too late. One last reasont to fear corporate control over film: when's the last time you saw a Canadian movie in a Canadian cinema?
I rest my case.
| :: posted by Ian Dawe, 6/13/2005 | Comments (2) Links to this post |
2 Comments:
That's a shame competition always seems good for anything.
The small town you're talking about wouldn't be Fort St. John perhaps? We just got a new 5 screen theater here and I remember waiting at least 3 months to see Fahrenheit 9/11 last year. Guess the same probably goes for a lot of smaller Canadian towns though.
Hmmm... sounds like, if you put together a marketing scheme, and found some investers, you could make a mint, given this built-in artistic minded audiences all over Canada. So why don't you do it? What are you waiting for?
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